1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a body composition measuring apparatus, and particularly to a body composition measuring apparatus for measuring the body composition of each of body parts.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has conventionally been an apparatus for measuring the body composition based on the bioelectrical impedance method. In recent years, various apparatuses have been proposed with which the body composition, for example, body fat percentage can easily be measured accurately even at home.
As an example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-157672 discloses a small-sized and light-weight healthcare guideline advising device that can calculate the body fat percentage and fat free mass for example of a subject based on a value of measured impedance as well as such body-specifying information as the height, weight, age and gender of the subject. Thus, the body composition of the subject can be calculated even at home.
Further, International Publication No. WO2002/043586 discloses a body composition measuring apparatus that can calculate the body composition, for example, the muscle mass of each part of the subject's body. According to this document, based on a measurement of impedance corresponding to each body part as well as such body-specifying information as the height or the length of each body part, weight, age and gender of the subject, the body composition of each part of the subject is calculated. The document indicates that, in calculating the body composition of each body part, the length of each part can also be estimated by multiplying an input height by a certain factor. Accordingly, the body composition of each body part can be calculated.
The art of Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-157672 described above is required to measure and input, on a separate occasion, at least the height among items of the body-specifying information. Further, the art of International Publication No. WO2002/043586 is required to separately measure and input the height or the length of each body part among items of the body-specifying information. In particular, to separately measure and input the length of each body part is troublesome for the subject.
In addition, as for International Publication No. WO2002/043586, the length of each part of the subject may be estimated by multiplying the height of the subject by a certain factor. In this case, however, a standard person of an appropriate age and gender for example is used as a model and thus if the subject is particularly developed in specific body part, through everyday training or long-term custom for example, like an athlete, there could be a possibility of an increased error.